"If you are a good citizen then you do not need to be paid to do your civic duty.'' This is the view of lawyer Mr. Archibald Warner who said he feels that Crime Stoppers has the potential to be "divisive'' and create "serious legal problems''. He said he thinks there is no doubt that Bermudians are alarmed about how crime is rising on the Island. He also said he agreed that authorities should do everything "legal and proper'' to help halt criminal activity. "However the means do not justify the ends,'' said Mr. Warner. He said there were other programmes such as the Neighbourhood Watch which involve the Police and the community in a bid to reduce criminal activity. Mr. Warner said he had no problem with that programme or most other similar programmes.

But he said: "Crime Stoppers creates an unnecessary and unconstitutional air of bureaucracy which could become very dangerous and erode people's fundamental human rights.'' Mr. Warner said these rights would also be affected by any "wrongdoing'' coming from Crime Stoppers and they "must be protected at all costs''. Mr. Warner said the law in the US regarding search and seizure is very strict while in Bermuda it is easier for the Police to get a search warrant on what could be unfounded information. Mr. Warner said there is no provision in law for people to be compensated if they have been wrongfully searched because the Police have the power to arrest and search on reasonable grounds. He said the Police will say reasonable grounds have been created by Crime Stoppers and the person who has been unjustly searched will be "smeared''. Mr. Warner said this would be especially true in a small community like Bermuda. "Even in the worse case scenario where a warrant was not issued the Police would have unconfirmed information which they would Public information to be checked and cross-checked by officers Warner added that "if lots of people are passing information then malicious and damaging reports are going to add up against the individual''. And he said there was nothing to stop a person from giving false information continuously making it easy for people to "set up'' others. However, Assistant Police Commissioner Mr. Wayne Perinchief said Police officers will not be acting on information without checking and cross checking it first. Mr. Perinchief said: "Hopefully this will deter people from dropping a dime on just anybody and will encourage them to drop a dime on crime.'' "I am not detracting from my firm belief that the public must cooperate with the Police in a normal functioning society,'' said Mr. Warner. "But this must be done under the rules and guidelines of the time,'' he added. "This type of detection and investigation should be left to the professionals.'' He said Crime Stoppers is a "loose type of situation when compared to the strict information gathering Likeliness of leaks increase when civilians are involved, says Warner intelligence gathering structure. He said he understood the Crime Stopper's programme had certain safeguards but said he feels the situation in Bermuda transcends these. Mr. Warner said he was not sure these safeguards will stop the fears about whether or not Crime Stoppers Bermuda had the manpower and the infrastructure to enforce the scheme. He said he believed the country was already polarised and only certain people would be selected to serve on the programme's governing body, the civilian Board of Directors. The certain types of people chosen would resemble the Island's power structure which would lead to more divisiveness, said Mr. Warner. Another difference between Bermuda and the USA, said Mr. Warner was that "big countries have size to their advantage which means information will be limited to a few people.'' He said there was no confidentiality in Bermuda. And the likelihood of leaks increased when civilians were involved with the information gathered by Crime Stoppers. He said he was also worried that people could use the programme for vindictive or petty reasons such as "settling old scores''. He added that the reward could cause people to overreact and invade people's privacy. Mr. Warner stressed: "I am not against the aims of Crime Stoppers. It is just whether or not it is an appropriate vehicle considering the dangers I have mentioned that could come from it.'' PHOTO COCAINE BURGERS - Crime Stoppers Bermuda will try to stop drug smugglers in their tracks by encouraging people who know what they are doing to inform on them. To help persuade possible tipsters Crime Stoppers will offer them anonymity and a cash reward.